‘A parcel? Let see it,’ I said, then thought to ask, ‘Was there a return na or address?’
Maybe it was sothing I’d ordered while shopping.
‘No,’ Geoffrey replied. ‘That’s the strange thing. It was delivered by a courier, but it only has your na and address on it.’
How odd.
Geoffrey went to fetch the package. It was a small, corrugated cardboard box, sealed tightly with tape. Just as he’d said, there was no sender information, only my details.
I took it, found a pair of scissors, and cut the tape to see what was inside.
The mont I opened it, I gasped and threw the box away from . ‘Agh!’ I turned my head away, a dry heave wracking my throat. ‘Get rid of it! Now!’
Geoffrey was equally startled by what lay on the floor: a dead, skinned rat, its body glistening and bloody.
‘Oh dear! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?’
‘I’m...’ I wanted to say I was fine, but that would be a lie.
Without delay, Geoffrey called for another staff mber and instructed them to dispose of the rat imdiately.
I kept my face averted, listening to the frantic cleaning sounds. Once the footsteps had faded, I asked Geoffrey, ‘Is it gone?’
‘It’s gone, it’s gone,’ he assured quickly. ‘Everything’s cleared away.’
Only then did I allow myself to turn back around.
My eyes instinctively dropped to the spot on the tiles where I’d thrown the box. The staff had already cleaned it up; it was spotless now. But I could still picture that dead rat lying there.
‘Wait, keep the box. Don’t throw it out.’
‘Why?’ Geoffrey was puzzled.
‘Maybe there are prints left on the box. Or so kind of clue.’ Clue to figure out who the hell decided to play such a disgusting prank on .
‘Oh, that’s right! I’ll tell them...’ Geoffrey scurried away and returned a mont later.
My stomach churned again, a wave of nausea rising without anything actually coming up. I couldn’t stand to be there another second.
I stood up quickly and said, ‘I’m going up to my room. Please have dinner sent up later. Actually, no, don’t bother. I really couldn’t eat anything.’
I had been a little hungry before, but now my appetite was completely gone.
‘Yes, Mrs Laurent. Are you sure you don’t need to call a doctor?’
‘No, I’m fine.’ Nauseated, disgusted, but otherwise fine.
Lying in bed, I still felt queasy. I couldn’t, for the life of , understand who would do sothing so vile.
When my phone rang, I scrambled to grab it. Seeing Ashton’s na, I answered imdiately.
‘Hello?’ I said, my voice tight with urgency.
‘Geoffrey told about the parcel. I’m coming ho now,’ Ashton said.
I was surprised he’d found out so quickly, but hearing he was on his way back filled with instant relief.
I was just about to tell him to co ho when I faintly heard a man’s voice in the background: ‘Boss, the shareholders’ eting starts in five minutes.’
‘Hold on a second,’ Ashton said to .
‘Okay,’ I murmured.
He made no attempt to hide his side of the conversation, so I could hear him clearly. His next words were cool and decisive. ‘Postpone it until tomorrow.’
‘But, Boss,’ Dominic’s voice ca through, sounding strained, ‘all the shareholders are already here. This eting is for the quarterly review; it was scheduled last month. Several have flown in from overseas specifically for this, and their schedules are very tight.’
‘That’s your job as executive assistant,’ Ashton replied, utterly unmoved, his tone turning even colder. ‘You need to coordinate this. Do I really need to spell it out for you?’
Hearing this clearly, I quickly cut in. ‘Wait!’
‘What is it?’ Ashton asked.
‘You don’t have to co ho. Really, I’m fine. It was just a shock when I first saw it. Please don’t worry about . You should go ahead with your eting.’
After hearing how complicated Dominic made it sound, I’d have felt terrible if Ashton had cancelled such an important eting because of .
‘Are you sure you’re alright?’ Ashton’s voice was low and serious.
‘Yes, yes, I’m sure,’ I insisted, trying to sound cheerful to reassure him. ‘Honestly, don’t worry. It was just a dead rat. You see worse things online all the ti; you get desensitised. And it’s not like you’re away for days. It’s only a few hours. You can just make it up to tonight by spending so extra ti with .’
Ashton relented. ‘Alright. I’ll co straight back after the eting.’
‘Okay, good. You focus on your work.’
I hung up, closed my eyes, tried to sleep, but couldn’t.
I thought of calling Yvaine, but why burden her with sothing I couldn’t stand myself?
For a mont, my thoughts flitted to Rhys, but I quickly dismissed the idea.
Wherever he was now, he wouldn’t try coming after again.
Then who was it?
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